CAPS Member Needs Your Help! Department of Public Health Senior Health Physicist and CAPS Board Member James Thomas has requested catastrophic leave donations in order to continue receiving pay and benefits. Section 3.10 of the CAPS MOU allows transfer of leave credits as catastrophic leave: CTO, Personal Leave, Annual Leave, Vacation, Personal Day, and/or Holiday Credit. If donating Personal Holidays, they must be donated in whole-day increments per the donating employee’s time base. All other donations must be made in a minimum of one hour (1.00) increments. Sick leave cannot be donated. If you can spare even ONE HOUR, it would greatly assist Director Thomas. CAPS thanks all who can assist. For more details: https://capsscientists.org/resources/catastrophic-leave-donations/
Know Your Rights. Blood Donation. The CAPS MOU, Section 3.15, authorizes State Scientists time off to donate blood, plasma, platelets and other blood products to certified donations centers, including certified mobile facilities. Blood is only stored for up to 42 days in the US, so this valuable commodity is always in need. If you’ve ever wondered what happens to your blood after donating, the American Red Cross publishes an interesting guide here: https://www.redcrossblood.org/donate-blood/blood-donation-process/what-happens-to-donated-blood.html
Know Your Rights. Organ and Bone Marrow Donation. The CAPS MOU, Section 5.14, allows State Scientists to donate organs and/or bone marrow. Organ donors are granted “up to thirty (30) workdays of paid leave (Donor Leave) in any one year period.” Bone marrow donors are granted “up to five (5) work days of paid leave (Donor Leave) in any one year period.” Each type of Donor Leave is separate, but the benefit does not kick in until an employee has exhausted all sick leave credits (those in the Annual Leave Program with no remaining sick leave are immediately eligible for Donor Leave). Additionally, Donor Leave is not a break in continuous service regarding salary adjustments, leave accrual, or seniority normally accrued on paid leave. If you are a donor, and encounter issues with securing donor leave, reach out to CAPS at caps@capsscientists.org.
CAPS-sponsored Bill Signed. Last week, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill to create the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund (SADWF). The CAPS-supported measure, Senate Bill 200, will put $130 million per year into the SADWF beginning July 1, 2020, until June 30, 2030. The State Water Resources Control Board will adopt a plan for spending the funds that will fulfill the state’s policy “that every human being has the right to safe, clean, affordable, and accessible water adequate for human consumption, cooking, and sanitary purposes.” The CAPS Leadership sponsored this not only to support the 1 million Californians without access to clean water, but also on to promote scientific programs and positions that this fund should create.
News Briefs
Water systems must notify Californians about these cancer-linked chemicals under new law – The Sacramento Bee Starting next year, California water systems must notify residents if their water sources contain potentially toxic levels of cancer-linked chemicals called PFAS under a law Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Wednesday. The new law, AB 756, will also expand state regulators’ ability to test for per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS. The compounds can be found in everyday plastics and products like floss and are concentrated in firefighting foam that the military and commercial aviation industry has used for decades.
California condors nearly died out, and now the 1,000th chick hatched. How’d that happen? – Modesto Bee
The 1,000th California condor chick recently hatched in the mountains of Utah, National Park Service officials confirmed this month. The hatching marks a slow-but-steady comeback for a species that in 1987 had dwindled to just 27 birds in the entire world, all housed in two facilities in Southern California in an attempt to help revive the species, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The condor population has increased since, with just under 490 condors counted worldwide as of 2018, according to a population survey. About 310 of those are wild and flying free.
In Review. Check out what you may have missed from past CAPS Updates here:
July 31, 2019. Board of Directors’ Meeting Minutes Posted. The Draft Minutes from the May 18, 2019 Board of Directors’ Meeting are posted on the CAPS Website. View them here: https://secure.capsscientists.org/BOD/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/DRAFT-May-18-2019-BOD-Meeting-Minutes.pdf.